They Pray, They Cheer, They `Draw near to One Another'

They Pray, They Cheer, They `Draw near to One Another'

Article excerpt

HERE IS A LOOK AT what was said about the Million Man March by
some who attended and some who did not:

Retired Gen. Colin Powell in a CBS interview: "While I deplore
the message of Minister Farrakhan, and I don't want to be
associated with the message, I cannot ignore what's happening in
the presence of several hundred thousand African-Americans who care
about themselves, care about their future, care about the future of
this country."

Rep. Major R. Owens, D-N.Y., opponent of the march, in a
statement: "Not sin but policy - government policy, government
laws, rules and regulations and actions - must be the primary
concerns of elected officials. The Nation of Islam should not
oversimplify the problems of our complex society and allow those in
power to wash their hands and forget the problems they have
created."

Writer Maya Angelou, who recited a special poem from the podium
commemorating the event:

"Draw near to one another,

"Save your race.

"You have been paid for in a distant place.

"The old ones remind us that slavery's chains

"Have paid for our freedom again and again."

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who spoke from the podium: "You
are the seed. . . . Let us go back home and demonstrate that power
that you have."

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., who spoke from the podium:
"Brothers, sisters, we're going to get results. . . . We're not
beaten down. . . . We're here for results. . . . In 1995, skeptics,
critics and doubters tell us not to do it, but we need this march
and the nation needs this march. . . . We will be heard. . . . We
will move forward from this place. The fight for moral justice . …